Blog Tour: A League of Her Own by Karen Rock @KarenRock5

This is my stop during the blog tour for A League of Her Own by Karen Rock. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14 December, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

A League of Her Own
By Karen Rock
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 1 December, 2014

Blurb:
He was attractive, talented…and way off limits.

Heather Gadway may have been a world-class college pitcher and a top university coach, but she's a rank amateur when it comes to managing the Falcons, her father's struggling minor league team. And when it comes to managing her aggravating attraction to Garrett Wolf, their talented new pitcher. It's going to be difficult enough to make it as the first female manager in the league and prove to her overly critical father she's worthy. No distractions. No missteps. And certainly no romances with players. Everything stands between them—including their troubled pasts—even as Heather's world falls apart and Garrett's the one who's there to catch her…

You can find A League of Her Own on Goodreads.

You can buy A League of Her Own here:
- Amazon (Kindle)
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- eHarlequin

Today we welcome Karen for a guest post. We asked her: Since it's a baseball themed book, I'd like to know about how Karen made sure the content was real and accurate and why she chose baseball for the background. And here's what she had to say!

Bringing Baseball Back- by Karen Rock

As a young girl, my sports experience was limited to just about anything that wasn’t on TV. I played soccer, competed at the long jump and pitched softball. Watching a game that I didn’t actually compete in seemed foreign to me. Why be a spectator? Yet all that changed when I met my husband. He charmed me on our first few dates then wowed me when he invited me to watch him play baseball at our regional field. I hadn’t anticipated the crowds, the electric hum that practically crackled in the air as each player stepped up to bat. And then Greg appeared. I’ll never forget seeing him in his baseball uniform for the first time. Sigh* He was handsome with the brim of his cap pulled low, his Oakley sunglasses making him look cool, and the confident pose at home plate that screamed, “come on pitcher, give me your best shot.” I fell head over heels. When he smashed the third pitch over the wall, I was going going gone.

There is something inherently sexy about sports players and a sports romance. The men ooze testosterone, strength and athletic skill. They’re all determined to win and their competitiveness can make a gal melt. I’ve always known I wanted to write a baseball romance, but as a former softball pitcher, I wasn’t satisfied having the heroine sidelined. I wanted her in the game as much as the men… maybe even more so. Then the idea struck me. What about a female team manager? She’d face lots of opposition, sure, but what if she was good. Really really good. Heather, my main character, is just that kind of heroine. She’s was the star softball pitcher for a nationally ranked college team then went on to be their pitching coach. She’s grown up around baseball because her family owns a minor league team and knows as much as any team member could. Yet her father refuses to let her come home to help him run the team until his illness demands he calls her off the bench. Finally, she’s got her shot to turn the struggling team around and her expert advice even helps their star pitcher straighten out his wild throws… and win his heart.

Researching this book was fun. I spent time in Florida with a minor league team and learned more than I’d imagined. For example, all minor league managers are called Skipper. A dribbler is a hit up the first baseline that the batter easily outruns. The difference between a curve ball and a slider is that a curve ball is slower and curves down to the left and a slider is thrown harder and drops to the left. The fastest runner on your team is always at the top of the batting order. A tater isn’t something you eat; it’s another term for a homerun. I could go on, but it’s in the book. I wove in loads of authentic details like that to bring that exciting world to life and make the reader feel a part of it. I’m thrilled with this setting and hope to return to it for more sports romances in the future!

Thanks so much for having me on your wonderful blog today, Brooke! Wishing you and your fans Happy Holidays 

Thanks so much for being here today, Karen! As always, great to have you on the blog!

About the Author:
Karen Rock is an award-winning YA and adult contemporary romance author. She holds a master’s degree in English and worked as an ELA instructor before becoming a full-time writer. Currently she writes for Harlequin Heartwarming and her first novel for the line, WISH ME TOMORROW, has won the 2014 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the 2014 Golden Quill Contest and a finalist in the Published Maggie Awards. The first novel in her co-authored YA series, CAMP BOYFRIEND, has been a finalist in the Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards.

You can find and connect with Karen here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Tumblr
- Quarterly Newsletter

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of A League of Her Own. These are the prizes you can win:
- a 100$ Amazon gift card (INT)
- a set of signed paperback of Wish Me Tomorrow, His Hometown Girl, Someone Like You and A League of Her Own (US only)

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway